Darius found himself floating through a myriad of colors in a vast space. It was a very comfortable sensation, as if he was floating on clouds. The last thing he remembered was the massive influx of emotions from throughout the castle and then he had passed out a few minutes later. Thankfully, his skills in occlumency had negated the initial pressure, the worst of it. After that, he seemed to be acclimatizing to it before he finally passed out due to exhaustion.

The colors around him seemed familiar, as if he had been here before. But his mind was not working at full capacity and felt oddly sluggish. It took another few hours of floating in the void before it came to him. The tunnel or passage he had passed through before he reached this world, the one his soul crossed, was remarkably like this one, only that one was a lot more structured. That was a startling revelation! If he could get at the bottom of this, he may be able to unravel the reasons behind his transmigration to this world.

The colors seemed to be melding together slowly as more and more of his mental faculties returned to him. He was able to think clearly, and the colors seemed to be losing their influence on him. Seemingly and eternity later, the colors had melded together into a pristine white surface. He was able to focus completely but he was still lost as to where he was.

One frightening thought was he had passed on from the mental overload and this was his version of the King’s Cross but that brought another quote to the forefront of his mind.

“Of course, it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

There is a high likelihood that Darius was inside his own head right now. If he could weather the first few moments of the mental onslaught, there was no reason to die later. And the moment he came to that conclusion, the world seemed to whirl and change into a familiar place. The huge town that was the representation of his mind was as familiar to him as the back of his own hand. He had spent hours within his own mind, perfecting the mindscape, increasing its defenses, setting traps for any unfortunate fool who tries to take a walk in his mind.

But something was new! Instead of the colorless sky before, it was the same vivid meld of colors that he was in before. Now that he was back in his normal mindscape, he could feel them clearly. They encompassed nearly every emotion ranging from unconditional love to irrational hatred. It was as if he could tap into their potential at any moment but he was loath to do so right now. His first experience with them wasn’t exactly a pleasant one and he wasn’t going to go back for a dive into them without having more information at hand. If he wasn’t wrong, this should be his Ira blood awakening. He could be classified as an empath due to his powers, bit he could feel it, it was so much more than that. It was time he had a long chat with his mother. But before that, he had to return to his body.

Outside, it had already been over five hours since Darius had collapsed. Thankfully, it was the weekend and there was no DA class either, so his lack of presence was not noticed. Darius’ mother was waiting in a small room at the end of the hospital wing along with Hermione. Hermione was petrified at first when she realized that the woman who came in with a formidable aura flaring around her was her boyfriend’s mother, but they quickly got along once they got talking. Madam Pomfrey shooed them from Darius’ bedside though and they were waiting it out in the small room.

“So, Hermione, how’s my son treating you?”

“Wh-what do you mean? We are very good friends. We get along very well.” Hermione was extremely flustered and answered in a haste.

“Well, you’re the only girl he ever mentions in his letters home and from the way he speaks bout you, I’m pretty sure you are a couple. Aren’t you? C’mon, don’t be shy, I won’t bite. I just want to know the kind of girl my aloof son would go out with. God knows, he never showed any interest in them for the past few years, it was starting to get worrying at this point.” Kaela truly was curious about the girl, but she also enjoyed making the poor girl nervous. The poor dear was so embarrassed, her ears were completely red and looked ready to let steam out.

“Well, to tell the truth, we go together just about a month ago. But we have known each other since the last three years. I am not exactly a very people person but somehow with Darius, it feels so easy. I really like him and hope we can stay strong together.”

“I am glad to hear you say that. I don’t want some floozy going after my son for only his talent or looks or something superficial like that. Like him for who he is.”

“I will. By the way, I wanted to ask, what was that aura you had when you entered the room? It was rather constricting and looked dangerous.”

“You felt that, huh? Are you doing magic detecting exercises?”

“Yeah, we both are! So that’s what I felt? That entire aura was pure magic?”

“Yes, it was. Magic, above all, respects our intentions. It is an energy which can be harnessed, controlled, forced and so much more. But it is truly let lose, when it is directed with purely our intentions and emotional strength. It is like a force of nature, we witches and wizards may think we control it but it is not truly so, we only possess the abilities to shape it. There are even studies towards the sentience of magic. Many believed, especially a few centuries that magic was a semi-sentient force in itself.”

“Wow, this is fascinating. I have never heard magic being talked about in this manner. We are always taught about how to control it!”

“I know! And that is indeed what you should be focusing on at your age. There is a difference between letting magic be influenced by your emotions, like I did and letting your emotions rule over your magic. The latter can be particularly disastrous. It leads to the most catastrophic accidents.

Most people don’t realize this, but Hogwarts is just the introduction to the magical world. It is not the be all and end all of magical education. It merely lays out the foundation. Any competent magician would choose to research further on their own. There are masteries available after schooling, followed by Sorcerers and Chief Sorcerer levels. Given what Darius has told me about you, it should not be too hard for you to get a few masteries. You can then focus on Sorcery for one or two subjects!”

“We were not made aware of all this at all. Darius did tell me once that there were levels beyond OWLs and NEWTs but not in such detail. I am definitely going to go for it.”

Dumbledore was not happy! He was not happy at all! He had just received word of Darius Icarus’ stint at the medical wing and he could read between the lines and guess at the causes for it. He was almost certain the boy was at least from one of the families at the Ancient families but that was not what galled him so. In fact, he was pleased about it as it would give him a chance to influence one of the scions of the old families and bring them to the Light Faction. The fact that troubled him was that he was completely unaware of the boy’s origins. Oh, he knew about the Icarus line, sure, but this was not the awakening of that family at all. And now, Minerva had gotten the boy’s mother into the castle before he could stall her. So, there was no way to get any information from the boy. And he daren’t try to get any from the mother. If she knew any of her rights at all, she would have him strung up in front of the Wizengamot for attempting to do so, Chief Warlock or not.

Voldemort, being the last of the Slytherin family, an old family though not as ancient as the Dominus, should have awakened something truly powerful as well but the fact that he mutilated his own soul denied him the gifts that were his by birth right, as a fractured soul would not be able to bear the weight of an old family magic.

He showed up to the hospital wing and spoke to the mediwitch briefly before heading to Kaela and Hermione. The mediwitch, bound by the healer’s oath as she was, was unable to give out confidential patient information. But the snippets of information she could give out were enough to give him some clues. Ordinarily a responsible mediwitch like Madam Pomfrey would never do something like this but Dumbledore’s image had been cemented for a long while and she didn’t think twice before speaking to him.

He headed to Kaela and cleared his throat.

“Ahem, greetings Madam Kaela. It is my great pleasure to have you in our beautiful castle, though sorry that it had to happen under such circumstances. I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of this fine institution. Though I don’t recall you from my several years of tenure here at Hogwarts?”

“Greetings, Dumbledore. I thank you for the welcome and I’m sure my son will recover in no time. And you’re right, I’ve not had my magical education in Hogwarts. Contrary to popular belief, not every magical in Britain goes to Hogwarts, as I’m sure you know. I had private tutors brought in by my family.”

“Ah, that would explain it. Anyway, would you be able to shed some light on the condition of young Darius?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Dumbledore! Anyone with half the experience you have would be able to tell. He is experiencing the awakening of his bloodline. And prematurely, at that. Anything more, is not for anyone outside of the family to know.”

“Of course, forgive me. I didn’t mean to pry. He is after all, one of the brightest of the generation and I was simply being careful that nothing untoward would happen to him.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dumbledore. He’ll be fine. He should be up in a short while.”

“Well, if you say so! I shall be taking my leave than. I wish Darius a fast recovery.”

With that said, Dumbledore smartly turned and headed out the door. Kaela knew very well that this was not a mere social visit. Dumbledore was plotting something again and planning to use her son in his games as well. But no way in hell would she allow that to happen.

Hermione was startled at the obvious distaste that Darius’ mom held for Professor Dumbledore but upon thinking on it, realized that Darius always had the same expression whenever they talked about the old headmaster. It was a curious reaction to be directed towards the most publicly acclaimed light wizard and she knew there was more brewing under the surface than she realized.

Suddenly, an overbearing mental pressure spread throughout the hospital wing. Hermione recognised it as being somewhat like the mental pressure that Darius used to temper his will and mental strength in the RoR. But she did not panic, because despite the suffocating pressure, she could clearly recognise the mental touch for whose it was. Darius was awake!! She rushed towards Darius’ bed, his mother hot on her heals and they reached the bed to see Darius awake on the bed, trying to regain his bearings.

“You’re awake!! I’m so glad you are alright. Both your mother and I were worried about your condition.”

“Calm down, Mione. I’m fine.” And he truly was. In fact, he was better than fine. His mind was feeling so unfettered and free and his magic felt whole in such a way that it was a wonder how he never noticed the ack before. He had unlocked or rather discovered a part of his magical heritage and his magic resonated with him on a far deeper level.

And although he didn’t know it at the moment, he had awakened a compound power instead of the customary single powers, a rarity that happened only once every couple of generations. It was emotional energy manipulation or Patho-ergokinesis, a combination of emotional and energy manipulation. A particularly high-level trait that could enable him to use almost the entire arsenal of Ira powers. A truly prodigious power that truly showed the true strength of his clan.

Darius could feel the aura of every person in the room clearly. It was as if he had gained an extra sense suddenly that he was able to use flawlessly. He could feel the pure relief and joy of Mione, the pride and joy of his mother, mixed with just a smidgeon of worry and the relieved feelings of Madam Pomfrey. He gave them the brightest smile he could and said, “I’ve never felt better!!”